


Ficlets and Requests

by EmpressCactuar



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Caretaking, Childhood Friends, Comfort, Fishing, Fluff, M/M, Makeup, Trans Male Character, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21765373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressCactuar/pseuds/EmpressCactuar
Summary: This is where I dump drabbles and ficlets so I don't spam the tagsSFW Requests are posted here! ^^
Relationships: Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	1. Wedding (modern!au)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just going to have this fic be a place to dump ficlets that aren't explicit
> 
> SFW requests go here too! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reiner is seven, Bertholdt is six

“You always need candy, Reiner, and I’m saying no.” Karina said, frowning while Reiner tugged at her pant leg. The cashier offered her a sympathetic smile as he started ringing up the groceries she put on the conveyor, Karina putting more on whenever space was freed up. Every now and again Reiner would toss another sweet onto the conveyor, but Karina would pluck it off immediately. 

“But mommy, I _need_ to get the ring pop! I promise I’ll put up something else, _pleeaaassseeee!_ ” Karina rubbed at her temples, her closing her eyes while her son whined. He had been frustrating the whole trip to the grocery store. He _needed_ pudding, he _needed_ the sugary cereal, and he _needed_ fifteen different kinds of chocolate. They didn't _need_ bread, milk, eggs, or meat to cook with. 

“What on earth do you need a ring pop for, Reiner?” Karina looked down at her son, Reiner making puppy-dog eyes at her. Maybe that would've worked before, but Reiner had done it so many times Karina was used to his attempts at manipulation. 

“I’m getting married and I need a ring.” Confusion was evident on her features, and the cashier stopped the ringing for a moment to glance down at the boy. 

“…What?” Usually when he needed something, Reiner just said ‘because’ and felt that a sufficient answer. For a kid, it probably was. “Reiner, what do you think getting married is?” 

“Two people who like each other a whole lot promise to stay together forever and ever.” 

“And you think you’re getting married?” Karina asked skeptically. Reiner almost looked offended that she didn’t believe him. 

“I’m getting married and everyone knows you gotta have a ring!” Karina shook her head and, with a defeated sigh, ran a hand through her hair. She didn’t even feel like asking. She needed to get home so she could cook dinner for him. Karina reached down and plucked the ring pop out of Reiner’s hand, then put it on the counter. The cashier rang it up, Karina taking it and handing it back to Reiner. She was surprised when Reiner didn’t open it immediately. 

  


“I got the ring, did you get yours?” Reiner asked over the phone, playing with the cord. He sat in the chair by the wall, kicking his feet back and forth. He had asked his mom to call Bertholdt’s dad so they could talk on the phone. Both parents gave the phones to their kids and went about their business. 

“Yeah, I asked my dad if I could get it when he took me to the store yesterday.” Bertholdt breathed in the smell of spaghetti sauce cooking. His phone was in the kitchen where his dad was cooking at the moment. Bertholdt felt his tummy growl while Reiner was talking to him, and he kept glancing over to watch his father cook. 

“Okay, so tomorrow at your house Pieck will be there to marry us, right?” Reiner hopped down from the chair, the phone’s cord stretching as he paced back and forth while he talked. 

“Yeah, she said she’d do it.” Bertholdt started to say more, but Reiner heard Bertholdt’s father say it was dinner time on the other end of the line. “I’ll see you tomorrow, bye!” 

Reiner hung up the phone, him going spend time with his mother while he anxiously awaited for tomorrow to come. 

  


Bertholdt seemed way more wound up than usual, Reiner thought when his mom dropped him off at Bertholdt’s house. “What’s wrong, Bertl?” Bertholdt shook his head at Reiner’s question, the boy looking like he was going to panic. 

“Pieck couldn’t come today because she got sick.” Reiner’s expression dropped. “And Miss Nanaba doesn’t care enough to marry us, she’s been talking on the phone with someone since she came to babysit me!” Miss Nanaba _always_ did that! Just talked on the phone instead of playing with him! 

“So we can’t get married?” Reiner asked, his voice holding a bit of sadness in it. Bertholdt shook his head and looked at the ground. 

“Not unless we marry ourselves, and you can’t do that!” Bertholdt rambled, Reiner stopping and thinking about it in the meantime. 

“Why not? Can we marry ourselves?” Bertholdt stopped and looked at his friend in confusion. He cocked his head to the side while he thought about what Reiner had said. 

“But the people on TV always have a third person that stands in the middle and marries them.” Like every movie and TV show ever did it that way! 

“They just say a bunch of stuff, so if we say some stuff it’ll be okay I think.” Reiner explained, Bertholdt nodding and calming down somewhat. 

“Okay… I got my prince costume from Halloween in my room, did you bring your wedding clothes?” Reiner nodded and pulled out a white button-up shirt. 

“I asked my mom what people wore at weddings and she said church clothes, so I brought my clothes she makes me wear when she takes me to church.” Reiner started to undress himself, him sliding on the nice shirt and khaki pants. He put on his belt and noticed Bertholdt wasn't getting into his prince costume. 

“Church clothes? My dad just said nice clothes…” Bertholdt fretted. Reiner put a hand on Bertholdt’s shoulder. 

“Well princes dress nice, and you wear nice clothes to church, so we can get married if you’re a prince. Prince clothes are nicer than church clothes anyways.” 

Bertholdt smiled and started undressing to put on his costume. “Good point." 

  


Reiner had put on his church clothes, feeling underdressed when Bertholdt was standing there with a prince outfit _and_ a crown! They stood across from each other under the tree in the backyard, holding each other’s hands. He looked with the ring pop on his hand, feeling nervous all of a sudden. Bertholdt did the same, blushing while he looked at the ground. 

“So you promise to be my buddy forever and ever and ever?” Reiner asked, a blush creeping onto his face. 

“I do,” Bertholdt swallowed. “Do you promise to be my friend even when we get in trouble and stuff?” Reiner nodded. 

“I do,” They fidgeted awkwardly for minute before Reiner pulled his away, pulling the ring pop he had bought off of his finger. “Then I now pronounce you my husband.” Reiner said, putting the ring on Bertholdt’s hand. 

“And I pronounce you my husband.” Bertholdt said, putting the ring pop he had gotten on Reiner’s hand. Reiner started sucking on it, smiling at him. “I know you like the apple ones.” 

“I got you a blue one!” Reiner said, Bertholdt starting to suck on his own ring pop. His face started to feel warm. “I think we’re supposed to kiss now...” 

“O-oh, yeah…” Bertholdt looked at Reiner, both of them puckering their lips and leaning forward. They pressed their lips together, both of them immediately pulling away and wiping at their faces. 

“Eww!” They both complained. Both of them started sucking their ring pops to get the other’s lips off their own. Bertholdt smiled at Reiner. “At least you don’t have cooties.” 

“Do you have the camera?” Reiner asked. 

“Yeah, let’s go ask Miss Nanaba to take some pictures of our wedding,” Bertholdt grabbed the disposable camera from the plastic chair where he had put it, the two of them going to the kitchen. 

Nanaba was still chatting on the phone when the two of them approached her. “Miss Nanaba?” She looked down at them, confusion written all over her face when she saw Bertholdt in a prince costume and Reiner _way_ overdressed to just be playing around. “Will you take pictures of our wedding?” 

“What?” She asked, turning around for a moment. “…I gotta call you back.” Nanaba hung up the phone, taking the camera while Reiner and Bertholdt explained that they had gotten married. 

  


“I now pronounce you husbands at last, you may now kiss.” There was a roar of clapping and cheering as Bertholdt leaned forward and pressed his lips to Reiner’s, Reiner’s hands moving to hold his arms. Reiner’s face was still dusted with that adorable shade of pink that darkened with every word of Bertholdt’s vows. 

The two of them linked their arms together, waving at their friends and families while they walked back down the aisle out of the cathedral and to the limo that would take them to the reception venue. Both of them got some rice caught in their hair as their friends and family tossed it, Bertholdt slipping into the car first. 

“Hey, Reiner! Think fast!” Reiner looked up and saw his best man, Porco, holding a ball of rice in his hand. He panicked and slammed the door shut as Porco chucked it, the ball exploding on the side of the limo. Through the window both of them could see Marcel run up behind his brother, failing to reach him in time to stop him. Porco was belly laughing, along with Reiner’s cousin Gabi and her friend Falco. 

“Christ…” Reiner mumbled, Bertholdt chuckling beside him. 

“He’s a jackass… but he’s our jackass.” Reiner leaned over and nuzzled into Bertholdt’s shoulder, Bertholdt wrapping his arms around his new husband and pulling him close. Reiner looked up at him, Bertholdt kissing him again. 

“We’re married, Bertl.” Reiner ran his thumb over his wedding ring and sighed. Bertholdt kissed the top of Reiner’s head and nuzzled him. 

“I don’t know why you’re acting like we just got married.” Reiner looked up at Bertholdt with confusion on his face. “We’ve been married for almost twenty years.” Bertholdt gave Reiner a mischievous smile, but Reiner only playfully smacked his arm in response. 

“Oh, hush!” Reiner said, his face red at the memory of when they got ‘married’ as kids. 

“Why? You were so cute in your church clothes, those pictures my old babysitter took are so precious.” Karina had taken one of the pictures and hung it up in her home, and it had actually made its way into the wedding gifts. 

“Says the one who dressed up like a prince.” Reiner teased, kissing Bertholdt’s cheek. 

“You’re kissing me a lot more now than you did the first time we got married.” Bertholdt laughed, Reiner resting his forehead against his husband’s. 

“Of course I am. It’s not like you have cooties anymore like you did back then.” Reiner thought back hard to the day they married themselves. They had wiped their mouths off right after they kissed. 

“How do you know?” Bertholdt said slyly, Reiner watching his eyes intensely. “Maybe I’m going to give you cooties tonight.” 

“Oh, cooties? Is that what they call it now?” Reiner leaned forward and rubbed his nose against Bertholdt’s affectionately. 

Bertholdt couldn’t even respond, falling into a fit of giggles with Reiner joining him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this. If I remember correctly, I wrote this after I deleted like 2000 words of something I just didn't like.  
> Comments appreciated, even anonymous ones :')


	2. Makeup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Bertholdt has been dating Reiner for a while but hasn’t told him that he secretly likes to dress more femininely (like dresses, heels, makeup etc.) because he’s embarrassed but when Reiner walks in on him what happens?_
> 
> Hello! I was having a hard time with this one because I don't normally imagine them hiding things until making them teenagers instead of adults came up! I hope this is close to what you wanted, kind anon. :)

The brush swept along pale skin, leaving behind a glittery purple hue. Again, the brush went along the eyelid. Bertholdt examined his eye in the mirror, then turned his head to the side and examined his other eye. Yes, it looked very even. He cleaned his brush and started to get the eyeshadow for his brow bone. After he had his eyeshadow on, he could move on to the eyeliner. A nice chocolate brown. 

The soft purple really brought out the green in his gray eyes, and it was one of the bolder choices he had made recently. For a special surprise his father had given him a gift card that Bertholdt was able to use to scoop up lots and lots of makeup that was on sale. His father was supportive of his hobby, and even helped take posed pictures that Bertholdt was too shy to post anywhere. 

Bertholdt hummed to himself while he put on his eyeliner. Yes, his eyes looked fantastic. Bertholdt hummed in satisfaction after he put on the mascara. 

Foundation, concealer, bronzer, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, brows… so much work went into this! And money! It was easy now, but it felt impossibly difficult at the start. 

Being a guy doing makeup was something a lot of people seemed to react poorly too despite the changing times. Especially if he wasn’t good at it. For so long he just watched Historia, Annie, Hitch, Pieck, Ymir and Sasha wear their makeup. He’d admired the different styles of their makeup. Ymir didn’t always put it on, but despite how neutral her makeup was it was always gorgeous. 

Reiner had thought for a long while that he’d been in love with Annie because apparently he kept staring at her. In reality, Bertholdt was always in awe of the way her peach eyeshadow brought out the icy blue in her eyes. Or sometimes, she would go bold with darker tones. And the way her clothes would coordinate with her makeup… flawless! 

“Dad, can you help me?” He asked in a raised voice, but in reality his father probably didn’t hear. Bertholdt grabbed his cellphone from his messenger bag. He had some text messages, but he ignored them in favor of going down to his father in the living room. Sometimes it felt a little weird walking around in his pink dress, but only because he didn’t do it often enough to get used to it. “Dad?” 

“Hmm?” His father had been fooling around on his phone; Bertholdt could see the pause menu for the game his father played. A dumb little RPG that truthfully Bertholdt found cheesy, but endearing nonetheless. “Oh, Bertl. Your pink looks good. I think I like the yellow one with daisies more, though.” 

“I think I do too. Can you take some pictures of me?” Bertholdt asked, him fidgeting with his cellphone in the meantime. His dad gave him a smile and nodded, then glanced at his phone. “You can finish killing the dragon, dad. I can go figure out what I want for my pictures if that’s fine.” 

“Heh, thanks son. I’m in the middle of killing this dragon and then I’ll have enough gold to upgrade my character. I’ll be in the backyard in just a second, okay?” Bertholdt nodded and went back to the yard. Yes, his father was a dork. It was okay. 

The lighting was nice from the sun overhead, and Bertholdt examined the garden to decide what he wanted the backdrop of his little photoshoot to be. His late mother loved the large garden, and his father kept it up after she passed. After a few minutes, his father came out and took Bertholdt’s phone. 

“I think the pink roses are a nice complement. You look so cute, Bertholdt.” Bertholdt blushed, but his father took the opportunity to gush about his red cheeks and snapped another picture. After a few more pictures in the garden, Bertholdt thanked his father and took his phone back. “Your pictures always look so good, son. Why don’t you post them every now and again?” 

“People think guys wearing makeup is weird, dad… I’m too nervous.” Bertholdt’s father gave him a sad but understanding smile, then put his hand on his son’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. 

“I wish you were more confident, Bertholdt. You look great. Maybe one day you can make a leap, but if you want to keep it secret that’s fine.” 

Bertholdt thought about it on the walk back to his room. He didn’t like feeling like he was hiding part of who he was from the world. It was so much fun! His pictures looked so good! And nobody knew about the hobby he cared so much about. Not even his boyfriend. 

It was probably a little silly that he was too shy and embarrassed to let Reiner see him in makeup. They’d been dating for almost two years now. But for some reason, he was more comfortable letting Reiner see him naked (which was fun, all things considered) than letting Reiner see him in his favorite dress and makeup. 

Maybe one day. 

Bertholdt relaxed and laid back in bed. He’d take off the dress and wash off the makeup in a few minutes. For now, he wanted to fool around on Instagram. Historia posted a new selfie of her and Ymir, and his eyes were drawn to her dramatic smokey eyes. He couldn’t help but just mindlessly scroll through her Instagram and look at all of her pictures. 

So gorgeous. 

“What’s up, dad?” Bertholdt asked when the door to his room opened, but Bertholdt froze and dropped his phone on his stomach whenever he saw Reiner standing there in the doorway to his bedroom. Reiner definitely looked surprised while he looked up and down at Bertholdt. Bertholdt swallowed and sat up quickly. “Uh… hi, Reiner?” 

“Hey, Bertl…” Reiner closed the door behind him and tossed his bookbag on the floor, then slowly made his way over to his boyfriend. Usually he would greet Bertholdt with a wet kiss to the cheek, but instead he just sat down next to Bertholdt. “Your dad let me in. You look… different.” 

“Y-yeah, I guess I do, don’t I?” Was it a tense silence or was it just his nerves? Bertholdt couldn’t be sure! Reiner was looking at his face so closely he felt stage fright! Why? They had sex all the time, why was he so shy and embarrassed now? Reiner had seen him in such an intimate way, and… and… 

“Your makeup. It uh. Looks pretty.” Reiner stuttered and fidgeted with his fingers, then awkwardly reached over and rubbed Bertholdt’s thigh. “Your dress is soft.” Clearly, Reiner was at a loss for words. The awkward silence went on after Reiner made his comments. 

“I’m sorry, Reiner.” Reiner furrowed his brows and seemed to frown, but gave Bertholdt a confused look after a moment. Bertholdt stared at the floor, then back to Reiner. 

“Why are you sorry, Bertholdt?” Reiner put a hand on Bertholdt’s cheek and turned his head. “I’m not mad, I’m just surprised. I didn’t know you liked makeup and stuff is all…” 

“It’s embarrassing, Reiner! I didn’t want you to see me like this. The only person that knew about it was my dad!” Bertholdt covered his face with his hands and plopped back so he was laying on his bed. “I didn’t want anyone thinking it was weird so I just kept it a secret!” 

“Bertl, it’s fine. I don’t care, it’s fine! The only thing I care about was you hiding it from me. It hurts that you would think I would hate you for wearing makeup. Sit up for me, please?” Bertholdt did as asked and sat up, but still had trouble meeting Reiner’s face. “You know me, Bertl. I love you. I don’t think it’s weird that you like makeup. There are lots of male makeup artists on Youtube and stuff.” 

“I don’t want you thinking I’m a freak…” Bertholdt mumbled against Reiner’s shoulder. Reiner rubbed a hand along Bertholdt’s shoulder, then kissed his head. Bertholdt hummed and closed his eyes while he got comfortable. Reiner always was warm and good at soothing him. 

“I would never think something like that about you, Bertholdt.” Reiner gave him a shit-eating look, and Bertholdt could only swallow. “Besides, if I didn’t think you were a freak when you planted your milk teeth to grow a tree I definitely wouldn’t now.” 

“Shut up!” Bertholdt hit Reiner’s chest lightly. “I just wanted to grow a tree so I could get unlimited money from the tooth fairy…” Reiner’s laughing was comforting. So were the kisses on Bertholdt’s cheeks. Soon Bertholdt found himself laughing and laying on his side while Reiner showered his face in kisses. 

“Oh, Bertholdt. I love you.” Reiner looked at Bertholdt’s face and ran a hand along it. “Your makeup looks really good. You’ve done it a lot.” Reiner was quiet for a second, like he was in thought. “I wish I could’ve seen it before. I’ll bet you looked really cute.” 

“I have a bunch of pictures, let me show you.” Bertholdt scrolled through the pictures on his phone and showed Reiner some of his previous outfits and makeup looks, Reiner nodding and finding himself impressed. Yes, he was hurt that Bertholdt hid something he was so passionate about. He wished Bertholdt knew that he would’ve supported him. 

“Can you do me?” Bertholdt blushed and stuttered, then glanced back at the door. 

“N-no, Reiner! Dad’s home, he’ll hear us…” Reiner mentally facepalmed and shook his head. He sat up and gestured for Bertholdt to do the same. 

“No, can you do me? Put makeup on my eyes?” Bertholdt’s eyes widened, but before Reiner could say anything Bertholdt dragged him into his bathroom and Reiner found himself sitting on Bertholdt’s toilet lid. 

“Oh, Reiner!” Bertholdt started rambling about his pretty amber eyes and talking about color theory, but Reiner wasn’t sure what to say. He just obeyed Bertholdt’s directions whenever he said to tilt his head, close his eyes, and whatever else Bertholdt asked. “Sparkly gold looks so good on you. What do you think?” 

Reiner examined his reflection in the mirror. It was a very different look than the one Bertholdt had. While Bertholdt used purple eyeshadows and brown eyeliner to bring out the green in his own eyes, Reiner found himself with sparkly gold eyeshadow and a more dramatic black eyeliner. “Is that all?” 

“No, there’s just one more thing missing.” Bertholdt grabbed a dramatic red lipstick and put it on his lips, then kissed Reiner’s cheek to leave a kiss mark. He wiped the lipstick off and put back on a tone suited to his skintone. “Perfect!” 

“Hehe. It looks good, Bertl. Thank you.” Reiner smiled whenever Bertholdt took a selfie of the two of them in their makeup, then he glanced over. “What’re you doing there, Bertl?” 

“Oh, I just wanted to make a post on my Instagram.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the request! It was really cute. Hope it wasn't too OOC. ^^;


	3. Summer Camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Reibert summer camp AU?_
> 
> This is an olllld request, I'm sorry it took me so long to get to >~<  
> I liked the idea of them going fishing!  
> In this request, Reiner is 9 and Bertholdt is 8.   
> Enjoy!

"Come on, Bertl! We gotta get up _early_ if we wanna go fishing!" Reiner gently shook his best friend and tried to wake him up. Bertholdt was never a morning person and it was so hard to get him up on a regular day! Let alone this early! But still, the day before Bertholdt had promised that he would go with Reiner and one of camp directors to go fishing when it was early enough. Later in the day, the sun would be beating down on them and they would be doing arts and crafts in the shade instead. "Bertllll... get up!" 

"Five more minutes, Reiner..." Bertholdt groaned. Reiner glanced around and made sure he was quiet. He didn't want to wake up the other campers in their cabin, two brothers named Porco and Marcel. But he had to wake Bertholdt up! Bertholdt groaned again and wiped at his eyes. Reiner was too bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning! It wasn't even sunrise yet. The sun would be poking up over the horizon shortly, though. Reiner's eyes lit up as soon as Bertholdt seemed to be getting up. "Hnng... I'm up, I'm up..." 

"Good! I'll just wait while you get dressed, okay?" Bertholdt scraped himself up and groggily looked around. Reiner was already dressed up in his camper uniform and had already gotten himself cleaned up. Judging by how Reiner usually was in the mornings, he'd probably already brushed his teeth and was well and truly ready to head on out. Bertholdt got himself dressed and ready while Reiner paced around outside. Reiner's bed had already been made, and he made Bertholdt's bed while he got dressed. 

Reiner was great at making the beds exactly the way the counselors liked. He never got jumped on for having a messy living space. Porco had been griped at multiple times for not keeping his space clean. Once Bertholdt was done getting himself ready, he went out the door of their cabin and closed the door behind them. Bertholdt's eyes fell shut while Reiner excitedly led them to the building where they did activities together. 

"Mr. Magath! We're here!" Reiner chirped at the director. The birds had to be jealous of the boy's enthusiastic chirping. Mr. Magath glanced down at his watch, then smiled at the children. Bertholdt groggily looked up at Magath, earning a chuckle from the familiar man. Not a camp counselor, but a former camper all the same. Mr. Magath directed the camp and sometimes he offered activities. 

"I wasn't sure anyone was going to show up, as early as it is. I guess it's just me and you two today." What kid wanted to endure the absolute _agony_ of getting up early on a Saturday morning? In _the summer_ when there wasn't school? Bertholdt wished that he wouldn't have agreed with Reiner that he'd come out fishing this morning. Bertholdt was still rubbing at his eyes when the two of them got into the small golf cart with Mr. Magath. The child-sized fishing poles sat in the back where golfing supplies were typically stored. Reiner kicked his feet excitedly and observed the environment around him with wonder; the pink, slightly cloudy sky, the fog kissing the water of the large lake, the ferns delicately blowing in the wind.... and Bertholdt was missing it all! 

"Wake up, Bertl! Look how pretty it is this morning!" Reiner gently shook Bertholdt's shoulder to jostle his friend awake. Mr. Magath glanced to the side and chuckled, then refocused on the path to the small docks where they would sit and fish. He'd left his own fishing supplies there to save space on the golf cart. He'd had room for four kids, but alas he got only two. 

"Well, we're here anyways so you need to wake up, Hoover." Mr. Magath parked the golf cart, Reiner jumping out while Bertholdt stepped out and yawned. Reiner was right, it was pretty this morning. Reiner and Bertholdt accepted the small fishing poles given to them by Mr. Magath, then made their way to the dock with him. A tackle box was there, along with his grown-up fishing pole. Reiner eagerly grabbed the small life jacket and put it on quickly, while Bertholdt carefully took his time. "You two remember everything Zeke taught you about fishing?" 

"Yeah!" Reiner and Bertholdt sat and hooked the fish onto their hooks, then sat next to one another with Magath on the end by Reiner's side. The three of them sat in silence initially, though Magath and Reiner soon started talking about the activities planned for later in the day. They were going to go identifying plants later, and that night they were going to go stargazing and identifying constellations. 

Once he was awake, Bertholdt was able to appreciate the scenery. Yes, it was pretty this morning. The sun peeking up over the horizon made rays of light dance on the ripples of the water, and it was... pretty. Bertholdt glanced to the side and saw Reiner laughing at a joke Mr. Magath told. He swallowed and turned back to the water, but for some reason his cheeks felt warm. 

"Oh! I got a bite!" Reiner said excitedly. Mr. Magath helped him, and Reiner reeled in a tiny bluegill. "I got one! A bluegill!" Magath laughed and pat Reiner's back. Reiner admired the fish on the end of his line. There wasn't anything special about it, really... but Reiner was excited to have caught it. On queue, Bertholdt felt his own line start to be pulled by a fish. "Ooooh! Bertl, reel it in! Reel it in, Bertl!" 

"It's a catfish!" Magath observed when the fish got closer to the surface of the water. Bertholdt seemed to be fighting the rod too much, and there would be too much tension on the line. "Hey, Bertholdt, ease up on your line..." 

As if to punctuate the advice, Bertholdt's fishing line snapped and the fish swam away. Magath scratched the back of his head. The kids didn't need to know that the fish having a hook in its mouth would probably kill it. Especially when they were disappointed that the catfish had gotten away. They moped for a second while Reiner patted Bertholdt's back. 

"Hey there, kids. I brought something for you." There was a small cooler in the back of the golf cart, and Magath grabbed them two juice boxes. Both the kids eagerly accepted the juices. Magath grabbed something else and hid it behind his back while Reiner and Bertholdt enjoyed their juice. "I have something else for you too." 

"Is it cookies?" Reiner asked, his expression dropping when Magath shook his head. Bertholdt cocked his head. 

"Is it more juice?" Well, he did have more juice because he'd accommodated for four kids... but that wasn't it either. 

"Ta-da!" Both Reiner and Bertholdt's eyes went wide in excitement when Mr. Magath pulled out two fishing merit badges for their camp sashes. "You two have done such a good job fishing today, I think you two deserve merit badges for your hard work!" 

In reality, he knew Zeke was too hard on his campers and his expectations were too high; this was a way for him to get a couple of Zeke's campers the fishing merit badges. The kids accepted the badges and admired them. Both of them gave toothy grins to Magath, and he smiled. Both of them had come every year, Reiner the past four years and Bertholdt the past three. They were growing up, and he'd grown fond of the boys. 

"Okay. Let's go back to camp and you two can get ready for the day's activities. We're going to be doing some crafts underneath the trees later, but you need to find different kinds of leaves on the ground." Magath left the fishing equipment; he'd come back for it later. It'd be fine. Bertholdt and Reiner both took another juice box, since there was no third or fourth child to take them. They both admired their merit badges, and they were _almost_ quiet while they chattered about what badges they needed to get next for their sashes. 

Magath felt a sense of pride watching his campers growing up into smart boys. He was glad he could have a positive impact on their growth, and he was happy to make them happy. 

He was happy. What a good life those children were able to live. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still chipping away at requests, thanks for reading!


	4. Care

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _can you write about bertolt taking care of trans reiner?_
> 
> I hope this is okay, anon. I'm a little down but writing this did make me feel a little bit better.

It hurts. That's the first thing that drifts through Reiner's head when he wakes up and glances around his familiar bedroom. His chest hurts. It isn't a terrible pain, but it's more than he's used to. He closes his eyes and wills the light behind the curtain to just go away forever, but it's useless and he knows it. Instead, he groans and doesn't want to move. He wants to stay wrapped up like a warm burrito all day long. 

How long he lays by himself in the silence, Reiner isn't quite sure. But he lifts his head off his pillow just a hair when the door to his bedroom opens and his boyfriend walks into the room. Bertholdt has a cup of water in one hand and a pill bottle in the other. Bertholdt notices Reiner is awake and gives him a warm smile, then after putting down the water and pills leans down to press a gentle kiss onto Reiner's forehead. 

"Good morning, love. I wanted to let you sleep in a while. I know yesterday was a big day and you're tired." Tired is right, and his chest hurts. The compression bandages on his chest are annoying, and the drains gross Reiner out if he's being honest. But his ever-faithful boyfriend had decided to take it upon himself to take care of the drains, and for that Reiner is thankful. He could barely remember the hours after his top-surgery because of the anesthetic. But he remembered Bertholdt helping him to the car and driving him home. 

Really, he's thankful just to have his boyfriend. Having one as caring and delicate as Bertl was a godsend. Reiner smiles and accepts the help when Bertholdt helps him sit up on the bed. It hurts to move around a lot, especially when he lifts his arms. The compression bandages are uncomfortably tight, but he knows it's a part of the recovery and accepts it.

"Bertl... can you get me my pain medicine? Please?" Bertholdt hums and grabs the pills off the table, then hands Reiner the water glass he brought it. 

"I wanted you to take it soon after you woke up. I know the pain will subside soon but for now you need it." A comfortable silence settles into the room. Bertholdt climbs onto the bed and leans his head onto Reiner's shoulder. "Pieck stopped by on her way to work this morning. She wanted me to give you this." 

Reiner raises his brows and accepts the envelope whenever Bertholdt hands it to him. He opens it up and finds a greeting card, then reads it carefully. He snorts, and Bertholdt thinks it's the cutest sound in the world. 

"Bye bye boobies? As expected of Pieck..." Reiner's smile is genuine when he carefully puts the card down on the nightstand. "Oh, Bertl. I'm glad I finally had my top surgery but I hate this recovery... you know I like going to the gym to feel better but that's off the table for a few weeks." 

"You can try eating some comfort food to feel better. I'll make you whatever you want." Reiner chuckles and carefully runs a hand along Bertholdt's face, then sticks his tongue out. 

"I can't go doing that. I worked too hard for my _rock-hard abs_. I'll turn doughy from eating too much of your food. It's too good to resist." Bertholdt's face darkens at Reiner's compliment and he wants to lightly punch him from the sarcasm. Reiner complimented his food no matter how badly he burned it. 

"I know I asked yesterday, but are you feeling okay? I know you were really nervous before the surgery and last night you just wanted to sleep." Reiner hums and closes his eyes, then leans back into his pillow. Bertholdt followed him and let Reiner nuzzle into his chest. As much as Bertholdt always loved resting his head on Reiner's body, he wasn't going to put any more pressure on his body than needed right now. 

"I do feel relieved. I can tell I'm going to be annoyed not being able to move around as much." There's a small moment of silence, then Reiner sighs. Not a disappointed sigh, however. "You know, these compression bandages aren't as tight as my binders. It's almost... nice." 

"Soon you won't even need the bandages, once we're a few more days in." Reiner is silent for a moment, like he's thinking, then looks back to Bertholdt. 

"Bertl?" Bertholdt's hum tells him to continue, and Reiner feels nervous for a moment. "You aren't going to feel differently about me now that I'm going to look different, are you?" Bertholdt is quiet, then very carefully pulls Reiner closer to himself as to not disturb the drains or make his boyfriend uncomfortable. 

"Of course not. I love you and that'd be true even if you never had your surgery. Don't ever forget that." Reiner closes his eyes and nuzzles into Bertholdt's warm and comforting arms. He's sore, but it's okay. Bertholdt is here for him, and will love him no matter what. 


End file.
